Congress defends Khurshid before EC
The Congress party on Friday defended Union Minister Salman Khurshid’s remarks on reservation for minorities before Election Commission and told the poll panel that he had only made a declaration of intent as a party worker and not a policy announcement as a minister.
Noted lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is also Congress spokesperson, appeared on behalf of Union Law Minister and told the poll body that Khurshid had not referred to any particular minority community and had only reiterated a pre-declared government policy.
“We have given sufficiently strong reasons in this regard,” Singhvi told reporters after a nearly hour-long Commission hearing.
“The person concerned was not speaking in any manner as a Union Minister. He was speaking as a Congressman,” Singhvi further said.
Singhvi asserted that Congress party has been making such a “declaration of inclusionary kind” regarding minorities in its manifestoes in 2002 and 2007 in Uttar Pradesh elections and in 2009 during the general elections.
He also opined that there was sufficient ground to drop the showcause notice against Khurshid.
“The Election Commission was good enough to hear us partly and briefly on the merit of the issue. Several points were put across in brief,” Singhvi said.
Khurshid was slapped with a show cause notice by Election Commission for having declared that his party would provide 9 per cent reservation to minorities, if Congress comes to power in Uttar Pradesh.
Khurshid, who is also Union Minority Affairs Minister made the remarks while campaigning for his wife Louise Khurshid, a Congress nominee in Farrukhabad.
